A research team from Michigan State University found that owning pets does not increase the level of happiness or remove the feeling of loneliness among people, and this is a common belief among many.
According to the study published by this team in the journal “Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin,” researchers from this team evaluated 767 people over a period of 3 times in May 2020, by conducting a general survey in which, in a seemingly unintended manner, questions related to lifestyle and extent of A sense of well-being and pet ownership.
According to the study, pet owners reported that it made them happy, but they also reported negative aspects of pet ownership such as concern about their pets’ health and their pets’ interference with remote work. The study was conducted during the lockdown during the Covid-19 pandemic.
However, when the happiness of these people was compared with another random sample whose owners did not own pets and who underwent the same surveys, the study found that there was no difference in life satisfaction and level of happiness among pet owners from those who did not own pets.
Accordingly, the study indicates that there is no direct relationship between the presence of pets in people’s lives and levels of happiness. Perhaps their reporting of happiness with the presence of pets is related to the presence of something else in their lives, but they only imagined that pets were the reason, because that is the common belief.
Insufficient evidence
However, research controversy remains regarding the importance of pets in people’s lives. For example, one study from the American Psychological Association found that therapy dogs are particularly useful in reducing the symptoms of some psychological diseases, such as inattention and decreased social skills associated with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder in people. children.
A study released in 2022 finds that victims of PTSD also feel relieved by pet ownership, as the presence of a pet causes decreased anger, decreased social isolation, and increased ability to adapt to stress.
However, these cases in particular are linked to psychological illnesses, and as for talking in general about the relationship between pets and happiness, scientists in general have not agreed on that, as the evidence remains insufficient so far, which is what the researchers indicate in an official press release issued by the University of Petra. Michigan.
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